'So that's how it is!'
Ethan finally understood what made these so-called top-grade spirit stones so precious.
They were more or less like nuclear materials. Without them, you couldn't launch a nuclear bomb, so naturally they were incredibly valuable.
After figuring out the various levels of spirit stones,
Ethan then continued shouting toward the shore, "Setting off soon! Anyone else getting on? Starting price is one hundred thousand Dragon Coins, and each bid raises it by one hundred thousand!"
"Only two spots left. If you don't get on, you'll have to bet on your luck!"
"Win, and you make it through. Lose, and you die!"
"Get on my raft and you don't have to risk your life. You only need to pay a little something from outside your body, and I can guarantee you'll cross the sea safely. Food and drinks included, and you'll make it through in your sleep."
"Food and drinks included~ oink?", A member of the Pigman Tribe let out an 'oink oink' pig noise and said, "I can see the drinks you're having, but the food~ oink~ couldn't it be just those few oranges? We'd starve to death!"
"Of course not."
Without another word, Ethan immediately put his alchemy skills on display.
First of all, none of them even knew whether he was an alchemist or an alchemy master, and according to the rules of the game, only participants could enter the Magic Tree, so Ethan didn't have to worry about Abyss monsters running in.
Right now, he only wanted to…
Make money! money! money!
Very soon, as soon as a simple magic formation for exchanging spirit stones for meat was finished, a beam of golden light shot straight into the sky from the super raft. Then, countless pieces of meat began tumbling down from the spatial gate opened by the magic formation.
Moreover, the meat inside the alchemy formation was like an endless river of meat, continuously flowing outward!
It wasn't until huge hams of various sizes, chicken wings, and unidentified slices of meat had piled up into a small mountain that it finally stopped.
At this moment, let alone the Pigman Tribe members standing on the shore.
Even the Eye of Nightmare was shocked by the amount of meat Ethan had exchanged.
"How could there be this much?"
"Maybe it's because spirit stones have a lot of energy."
Ethan also felt rather helpless.
Actually, he didn't know how much meat one high-grade spirit stone could exchange for either. But even if he wanted to exchange a different spirit stone, he didn't have any small change on him (he couldn't open his spatial ring), so he could only use one of the high-grade spirit stones from the bag the beautiful snake had just given him.
"Holy shit!", The Eye of Nightmare was instantly shocked, "You actually used a high-grade spirit stone to exchange for meat. Are you crazy? With this fucking much meat, when are you ever going to finish eating it?"
"Don't worry. It's only the first day of the competitive climbing game. Soon, everyone will start spending huge amounts of money to buy meat from me."
Ethan was completely confident.
And as the meat Ethan had exchanged filled the raft, the Pigman Tribe, Kobold Tribe, goblins, and other carnivorous beastfolk could no longer hold back. They all raised their hands and shouted, "Two hundred thousand! I'll pay two hundred thousand!"
"I'll pay three hundred thousand. Take me with you!"
"Is the meat free? If it's free, I'll pay four hundred thousand Dragon Coins. How about I get on the raft right now?"
"Can I just buy the meat separately? I'll pay five hundred thousand Dragon Coins. How about you sell me half your meat?"
The instant the meat appeared, everyone on the shore went wild.
But Ethan only smiled at them and said, "The meat isn't for sale!"
"Those who get on the raft will receive two portions of meat, two portions of water, and two oranges every day!"
"No matter how big this sea is, I can guarantee that your supplies won't run out. Everyone, rest assured!"
"Anyone else bidding?"
"The current bid is from this gentleman of the Pigman Tribe. His bid is four hundred thousand Dragon Coins!"
Meanwhile, those passengers who had gotten onto Ethan's raft early on had expressions as if they'd stumbled upon an enormous bargain when they heard that food and drinks were included every day.
After all… they had only spent one hundred thousand Dragon Coins, yet they could enjoy the same treatment as passengers who had spent four hundred thousand Dragon Coins.
It was practically like getting three hundred thousand Dragon Coins for free.
"No one else bidding?", Ethan plucked another orange and said, "Second time!"
The people on the shore fell silent once again.
Who knew whether they thought four hundred thousand was too expensive, or whether they thought they could bid an even cheaper price during the final bidding opportunity?
But judging from Ethan's experience, for something like this where demand exceeded supply, the closer it got to the end, the higher the price would be pushed.
Just like concert tickets.
So…
He wasn't in a hurry. He merely said casually, "Third time!"
"Congratulations, you've won the opportunity to board the top-tier raft and compete with me for a spot in the top ten!"
Ethan tossed the orange in his hand to the Pigman Tribe member.
The Pigman Tribe member proudly took Ethan's hand and followed him onto the top-tier raft.
The beautiful snake even gave the Pigman Tribe member, whose mouth was so overhanging that even his fangs stuck out, a flirtatious look.
Ethan could tell by now… this beautiful snake had absolutely no bottom line. To it, as long as someone had money, anyone would do.
"Alright, there's only one spot left. The starting price is still one hundred thousand!"
Ethan immediately announced the price.
And at this moment, a treant somehow got hold of a huge pile of fruit and placed it on the raft it had made with its own hands before shouting, "I only want one hundred thousand Dragon Coins over here. No bidding required! No meat, but fruit until you're full. Four people, and we'll leave immediately!"
"That treant only wants one hundred thousand! Let's go sit on its raft!"
"Four people and we leave immediately. We don't even have to wait!"
"This first-place guy thinks he's so great just because he has a crappy raft. He's deliberately wasting time. I bet by the time we've already followed the treant to the other shore, he'll probably still be here bidding!"
"Mr. Treant, count me in!"
"I'm getting on too!"
Those rich yet stingy people immediately turned toward the treant one after another.
Even the Pigman Tribe member who had originally bid four hundred thousand Dragon Coins now timidly asked Ethan, "I… can I get a refund? It's much cheaper over there…"
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